Karrie Webb wins inaugural RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup by one stroke
Karrie Webb of Australia won the RR Donnelley Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Founders Cup by one stroke ahead of Americans Brittany Lincicome and Paula Creamer.
The 36-year-old Hall of Famer fired a six under par 66 in the final round to post an aggregate total of 12 under par 204 in the three day, 54 hole tournament taking place at the Wildfire Golf Club at the JW Marriot Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona.
Upon winning the 37th tournament of her career, Webb said, "I'm just glad to be standing here as champion. I'm really honoured to win the inaugural Founders Cup."
She added, "It's a great concept and we need to honour these ladies more than we do. The reason we're playing today is because of them. It means a lot to me to be champion."
According to the format of the tournament, seven-time major winner Webb had previously said she would donate her winnings to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation to help in their fight against paralysis. However, after winning the tournament she divided
the prize money of US $200,000 in half, and donated it to the Foundation and the Tsunami relief efforts in Japan.
Webb told reporters, "The Japan people have done a lot for me, Japanese companies as well, and I feel like I need to give back to them.”
The veteran Golfer is expected to improve on her current ranking of 10th in the Rolex World Golf rankings after winning her second tournament in a row. Webb recently broke into the top ten after clinching the HSBC Women Champions held in Singapore three
weeks ago.
World Number 23 Brittany Lincicome and World number 12 Paula Creamer shared second spot by carding 11 under par 205. The 24-year-old Creamer shot a superb six under par 66, equaling the day’s best round with Webb. World Number five Cristie Kerr of the United
States finished fourth in the leaderboard after posting three under 69 on the final day.
The first and second day leader Angela Stanford finished in fifth place after carding the worst round of the tournament with three over par 75. World number one Yani Tseng of Taiwan finished at T29 on the leader board this year. The 22-year-old golfer carded
a three under par 69 in the final round after scoring one over par 73 in the first two rounds. She posted a total aggregate of one under par 215.
Half of the prize money went to the LPGA and the LPGA-USGA program, while four of the top ten finishers have announced they will donate their winnings to Earthquake and Tsunami relief work in Japan.
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